Smoked meat is a medod of preparing red meat (and fish) which originates in prehistory. Its purpose is to preserve dese protein-rich foods, which wouwd oderwise spoiw qwickwy, for wong periods. There are two mechanisms for dis preservation: dehydration and de antibacteriaw properties of phenows and oder chemicaws in de absorbed smoke. In modern days, de enhanced fwavor of smoked foods makes dem a dewicacy in many cuwtures.

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Smoking of meat and fish has been practiced for ages. Indigenous cuwtures around de worwd may have used smoke during de drying of fish to drive away de fwies. They soon found dat de absorbed smoke acted as a preservative. Perhaps de most famous "smokers of meat" were de Caribbean natives who smoked it on a rack over a smoky fire, a setup dey cawwed "barbacoa" (one possibwe etymowogicaw origin of barbecue).

Awong wif bagews, smoked meat has been popuwar in Montreaw since de nineteenf century, and has taken such strong root in dat city dat many Montreawers, and even many non-Montreawers, identify it as embwematic of de city's cuisine. Current and former residents and tourists make a point of visiting Montreaw's best-known smoked meat estabwishments such as Schwartz's, Main Dewi Steak House, Lester's Dewi, Roi du Smoked Meat (Smoked Meat King), Abie's, Snowdon Dewi, Smoked Meat Pete's, even taking whowe briskets away as take-out.

Warm Montreaw smoked meat is awways swiced by hand in order to maintain its form since doing so wif a meat swicer wouwd cause de tender meat to disintegrate. Whowe briskets are kept steaming and swiced up on demand when ordered in de restaurant.

Famous among earwy smokers of meat are de Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Europe, and is often associated wif oder foods popuwarized by Jewish communities, such as bagews. In de United States it is referred to as pastrami, which is derived from de Yiddish: פא סטראמע‎ (pronounced pastrómeh). However, wovers of pastrami vociferouswy argue dat de consistency, fwavoring, seasoning and cowor of pastrami differs significantwy from dat of smoked meat. Pastrami comes in two fwavors-"owd fashioned" which is a process where de meat is naturawwy aged or cured and "reguwar" a process whereby additives are used to age de meat. Bof de dish and de word were brought to Norf America wif de wave of Jewish immigration from Bessarabia and Romania in de second hawf of de 19f century; it is simiwar to roast brisket, a signature dish of de wocaw Jewish cuisine of dese regions. Smoked meat, awso known as sawt beef in London, is cured, spiced, and fwavoured in ways simiwar to corned beef. Difference in meat cut and spicing mean dat smoked meat's taste is different from eider of dese, and even varies among recipes.

Smoke meats from de soudern United States, awso known as Barbecue or BBQ were devewoped to use de "cheaper" cuts of meats, as dey were typicawwy tough and deemed "undesirabwe". The "wow and swow" cooking medods tenderized de connective tissues in de meat and made dese cuts a sought after dewicacy . Usuawwy done in a "wow temp" environment (200 °F to 300 °F) (93 °C to 149 °C), dey take a significant amount of time to prepare, which breaks down de connective tissues and cowwagens widin de meat, and renders out de fat. A sub-category is de pwedora of sauces and "mops" dat are used to fwavor and furder tenderize de meats. BBQ has become a cuwinary art form, and hundreds of competitions are hewd yearwy. In de Soudeast, puwwed pork and pork ribs are de most common smoked meat, whiwe brisket, beef ribs, and sausage are most popuwar in Texas and de centraw souf. Chicken is awso smoked droughout.